loss ratio

American

noun

Insurance.

the ratio of the losses paid or accrued by an insurer to premiums earned, usually for a period of one year.

loss ratio British

noun

the ratio of the annual losses sustained to the premiums received by an insurance company

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of loss ratio

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That estimate puts the loss ratio about 2 percentage points higher than the same quarter a year prior.

From Barron's

CVS’s Aetna insurance business reported a medical loss ratio, or the percentage of premiums spent on medical services, of 94.8% for the quarter, flat from the same period a year earlier.

From Barron's

Oscar’s medical loss ratio, a measure of the proportion of premiums that the insurer pays out on medical bills, rose sharply to 95.4%, well in excess of the average analyst target of 91.1%.

From The Wall Street Journal

The trick hinges on a seemingly noble safeguard known as the medical loss ratio.

From MarketWatch

CVS posted higher-than-expected revenue and profit in its latest quarter, though its medical loss ratio—which reflects the proportion of premiums paid out to cover patients’ health expenses—came in slightly above consensus estimates.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023